Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

Wingnuts Wig Over West Point Wedding

When I read last week that the chapel at West Point Military Academy had hosted a same-sex wedding, I couldn’t wait to hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the theocrats. Robert Knight of the American Civil Rights Union (what is it with wingnuts loving their acronyms?), you’re up:

“It’s a disgrace that West Point allowed same-sex so-called ‘marriage’ in the chapel,” he submits. “That’s a blasphemy against God. It goes against the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law. It’s a finger in the eye of God and the American people who still hold to biblical morality, and it was done deliberately. They did it there to make a point.”

Knight believes all of this has come about because of President Barack Obama’s dedication to the LGBT cause.

“We are in the grip of an unholy regime,” he contends. “We have people who are lawless, godless. They are a law unto themselves, and they have taken command of our government, our institutions, the media, Hollywood — you name it. So people who love God and obey his laws are up against huge force.”

Yeah, you’re losing your grip on the country. And that’s a very good thing. Maybe we’ll finally become a genuinely secular country that protects the rights of those your god allegedly disapproves of as well as the ones he supposedly likes.

Comments

West Point is in New York, yes? Same sex marriage is recognized in New York. Therefore, the chapel hosted a ceremony that “solemnized” a legally binding contract that is recognized in the state in which it is located.

#6: What they mean is they don’t follow our laws and our laws are the only ones that matters. I don’t know what the second clause means.
This parallels their attack on atheists when they say that all morality comes from our god and atheists don’t believe in god so they don’t have morals.
I sincerely hope that their is a wingnut critical mass of outrage that, when reached, will cause all of their heads to explode. And not metaphorically.

…how exactly does it go against DOMA? The DOMA law only says that gay marriages don’t have to be recognized except by the original state/territory/whatnot, and that “marriage” in the federal code only means straight ones. It doesn’t ban ceremonies from federal property.

Even more hairsplittingly … DOMA only talks about marriage, not weddings.

The wedding was Christian (an Episcopalian chaplain,J. Wesley Smith, from Dover Air Force Base performed it because none of the military chaplains at West Point are allowed by their denominations) with some Jewish symbolism.

It’s a pity these Teabaggers are so well-financed by the Evil Rich that I cannot simply point, laugh and move along.

I pity them from the bottom of my heart (and feel sick and angry from the pit of my stomach), and hope they recover from the mental illness that is ‘Mer’kin “conservatism” and Xianity, but they’ll get the treatment attacking zombies receive whenever they begin to threaten the lives or happiness of other, relatively healthy human beings.

Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Sadly, if one is a civilian, this couple is denied many of the rights and privileges that we enjoy as a military family, such as base housing, commissary privileges, medical care for the civilian spouse, and many others. I want to see these couples and families given all of the rights and privileges that they deserve.

When a giant finger, devoid of arm or face or brain, materializes out of the air and engraves upon the walls of the Academy that the same sex marriage was, in fact, an abomination to it and then a loud voice goes on to piss and moan all over everybody (like some devotees do), then such a proclamation will have teeth. Until then, any such claim remains toothless. Don’t you accept that it did so once before write so mysteriously? Don’t such mysteries afford endless fascination to you? And aren’t you a stout supporter of supernatural intervention into the natural world of humanity? Well, aren’t you?

All claims require evidence. Sorry, ancient texts do not constitute evidence. No matter how hard you twist and contort yourself to make belief real to you own self. Some of us will just laugh, or sigh, or write such responses as this. In each case you, and your spook, lose the argument as it becomes evident that blasphemies are common coin and life goes on in spite of putting them on the table.

And life goes on as it always did, with a coarse background noise of whining and whimpering from the likes of you and your acolytes.

Sastra @19: Oh, flark, why did I click that link? That has to be the most concentrated cesspool of hate I’ve run across in a long, long time…. (usually I filter it through sites like this one and Manboobz and whatnot, where I get sane commentary on the quoted material).

“Yeah, you’re losing your grip on the country. And that’s a very good thing. Maybe we’ll finally become a genuinely secular country that protects the rights of those your god allegedly disapproves of as well as the ones he supposedly likes.”

@35 – the problem of blinding deities. I mean, he’s only got 2 eyes (6 for the trinity), so with another wedding (5for the trinity), he’ll be blind! Bet they wish the Republicans signed off on the UN bill in support of the disabled now, don’t they?